


me, you and space against the world // saimota

by kaydensquareass



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, Bisexual Momota Kaito, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Original Character(s), Not Plot Relevant Tho, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Towa City (Dangan Ronpa), Trans Male Character, Trans Saihara Shuichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 04:20:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29628981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaydensquareass/pseuds/kaydensquareass
Summary: He sighed calmly, now waiting for a reply. He was doing just fine where he was, doing the same things he enjoyed doing. Speaking of doing things, maybe there was a crime show on that he could watch..Shuichi Saihara was doing quite well and all he could see was clear skies.---That was before he felt a part of his sky collapse: solely himself and space against the world.No.. Not quite just himself. He had someone to get through it all with.
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Saihara Shuichi, Momota Kaito/Saihara Shuichi, Saimota - Relationship
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. prologue / clear skies

~~~~~

It was the middle of fall in Japan, almost the end of September to be exact. The sun only dimly lighting the cities and towns in the quiet, chilly mornings waiting for the cycle of daily life to begin for the civialians. With the faint sound of birds chirping, the sun gradually piercing through the curtains and his ears ringing from the alarm blaring on his bedside table, Shuichi decided to start his day.

Saihara glanced over and hit the stop button to cease the overly loud beeping sound. Rubbing his eyes and sitting up, Shuichi looked at the small clock to see the time of **[07:46]**. It was somewhat later than most morning rising's but his schedule wouldn't be significantly disrupted as it just happened to be his day off.

He's enlisted as student at Hope's Peak College. The school is a 4 year college located at the center of a rather rich, advanced and large borough called Towa City. His college tends to scout handpicked students with special talents from all around Japan to attend, meaning that the scholars can major in any field as long as they're quite exceptional at what they do.

There _would_ be a struggle to enter such a prestigious school for higher eduation, considering the expectancy to pay expensive fees due to its grand reputation. But compared to other university and colleges, the fees are quite low; around 134,000 yen per semester (half average cost).

Shuichi lives at the school's dorms, for once not knee deep in debt and aiming for a degree in the average english and maths but also criminal justice and law enforcement. If it wasn't too obvious, he is working to become a detective - to be specific, a private investigator.

From his current point of view, his grades were quite good. Receiving marks ranging from the occasional A- to the frequent C+, he wasn't failing and hasn't gotten too many negative reports from teachers in the second half of his current semester.

Though he had no classes, it's still a distant dream to sleep in past 8 am with plans to get ready for the day ahead. Lazily, he rolled out of bed and yawned, going to put on his black, fluffy slippers and heading to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Quickly completing the task, looking in the mirror Shuichi gave himself a quick mental note to brush his hair properly after taking a shower. Stepping out of the bathroom into his room then the hallway, he made his way to the kitchen for some breakfast and to greet his roommates before they went out to do whatever they had planned for that day. He didn't care too much for their daily routines though, it wasn't his business.

The dorm was fairly simple with basic furniture that was needed for 3 boys in college. There was not too much decoration but the colour scheme consists of a lot of blacks, whites and greens. Saihara felt a bit out of place walking around the room since he wore darker clothes (not to mention his dark blue hair) but what could be done?

Getting to the small kitchen, he saw Makoto in the lounge nearby already dressed and ready with his bag and everything, eating toast while simultaneously doing a piece of homework.

Noticing Shuichi enter, the brunette put down his pen and turned around to greet him. "Morning Saihara! Did you sleep well?" he said enthusiatically.

"Hey Naegi," Shuichi responded, "I slept decently, yeah."

"That's good. You seem exhausted though - sorry if that sounds rude."

Shuichi chuckled lightly, "The real question is how are you always so awake and enthusiastic? Seriously, it's only 8 in the morning."

Naegi let out a small laugh and said something about "looking at the day ahead with hope," the rest Shuichi didn't quite catch as the other turned back to the notebook he was writing in and the toast he was eating.

Saihara switched the kettle on and started to wait so he could get his daily dose of caffeine to wake him up (both mentally and physically). While the water was boiling, he began looking through the cupboards and find something satisfying to eat on his rare free day, rather than the usual rushed cereal or oatmeal.

Settling on some (packaged) Belgian waffles, he took two and quickly put them in the toaster. Instead of watching the applications make his food, the crime major dashed to his room to get his phone and check any for notifications and on his social medias.

Swiftly going back to the kitchen, he placed his phone down on the counter and took some coffee grounds and sugar from the cupboard, then milk and whipped cream from the fridge. Once the kettle was supposedly hot enough (and he had his cup) Shuichi mindlessly made hus drink and also waited for the waffles to pop out.

After a few minutes of mixing instant coffee, Saihara's waffles finally sprung out of the toaster. Promptly, he put them on a plate to avoid giving himself very minor burns: no long term effect but painful nonetheless.

It's common knowledge that Belgian waffles couldn't be eaten entirely plain; as to go forward with the rule, Shuichi sprayed some whipped cream onto the top of both waffle pieces and topped them off with chocolate syrup, smiling at the craftsmanship infront of him. It really was just instant coffee and toaster food with toppings but, the details weren't too important if you were about to eat it all anyways.

He brought his food over to the kitchen island, going to grab a knife and fork before sitting at one of the stools they had at the mini breakfast bar. Seeing Naegi about to go for his classes and whatnot, Shuichi waved him a quick "see you later" as he made his way out of the door.

He distantly wondered where his other roommate, Hajime Hinata, was at the moment but, let it go as he could have an early lecture or something like that. Sitting comfortably at the table, Shuichi began to eat his breakfast - which was quite good if he would say so himself - and drink his coffee. Enjoying his food, Shuichi's mind began to drift onto what he was gonna get up to that day.

There was always the simple option of lazing around the whole day, which is definitely needed with the end of semester exam stress. Something more productive that one of his best friends, Kaede Akamatsu, would suggest is catching up on homework, coursework and anything of the sort school related. It was boring to do but if he knew her as well as he did, she always had the best intentions.

Like one should have, Kaede was one person amongst Shuichi's small circle of best friends. He only had about four people that he was really close with; he was fine with that though, the whole world didn't need to know all of his deepest secrets.

The said group he's known and been friends with since high school, he trusted with his life and did not want to be separated from under any circumstances. They'd been through too much as a unit and it would be way too painful to leave them (maybe that was his attachment issues talking.)

Kaede was the first person he talked to in school, she has always been extroverted and optimistic: she definitely hasn't changed too much since then. All thanks to her, Shuichi gained the confidence to talk to all his classmates and make friends. She went to Hopes Peak College, along with a handful of ex-classmates from high school, and was a music major that specialized in areas of piano. Akamatsu is definitely enthusiastic in pursuing piano and it's been like that for years.

Kaito Momota was definitely unique; he was energetic and had a loud personality with lots of passion for all his dreams - and romance. He has always been dramatically encouraging (in a good way of course) and the type to take people under his wing, too keep them going. Though he did have quite a short temper, he could get emotional at times with high loyalty to people close to him. At Hopes Peak, he was working towards all the necessary degrees to become an astronaut and someday go to space. A massive dream of his.

Another one of Shuichi's best friends was introduced by Momota: Maki Harukawa. She had always been on the more quiet, serious side with little to no filter, always saying things as they are (which could be interpretted as a positive and negative trait). For a while, she'd preferred to be alone with a visible dislike for people and a stubborn nature.

Despite, this once she got to know the small group, she got to show her trust in them and her ability to care for others and regard them as important people in life. Although she didn't really like people, Maki was studying the human sciences, social care and strangely, literature.

Those four became practially inseparable towards the middle of highschool and have been ever since.

Someone that Shuichi hadn't known too long but definitely considered dear to him was his boyfriend, Kokichi Ouma.

The pair had met about a year ago during their second semester as freshmen, when they were paired for a project in their shared law class and quickly got along with one another.

Outside of when they were working on the project they hung out often and continued to after that assignment was over with. They became a well known duo around their friends and such, as they were together quite a bit and met up with one another during most breaks from the year. The two's friendship developed quickly over time and with Kokichi's extroverted and lively nature it wouldn't have been hard.

Ouma was definitely a handful as some would say. He had a playful and child-like demeanor, being mischevious and a comical trickster, it was quite hard to catch a grasp on his intentions on, basically everything. He was a liar, that was for sure, though his lies were clearly untrue, white lies that didn't affect people to a negative extent so they were much overlooked and just a bad habit of his.

Saihara and Ouma were 'just friends' for a few months after Kokichi broke the ice and boldly asked Shuichi out - to which he said yes.

Finishing his plate of food, the dark haired boy stood up to go place his plate and cutlery in the sink for him to wash later; whenever that was. Wiping the table down a bitand brushing himself off, Shuichi headed to his room to go and shower.

It would be a good time for him to have a hot shower: in the middle of autumn and having no roommates to switch on taps and shock him with the shower running to a freezing and unpleasant temperature. Was it odd to enjoy boiling himself? Maybe he just despised cold showers..

——

Now freshly cleaned, having jumped out of a peaceful and warm shower, Shuichi was finally clear to do whatever he liked for the day. Except break the law. That was definitely off the table. Dressing up came first in any case; public nudity was against the law, right?

After looking through his wardrobe for some time, Saihara decided on a fairly simple outfit that would do the trick. It consisted of a black t-shirt with the words 'true crime' printed on the front, some sort of navy blue jeans/trousers crossbreed, high top converse that have definitely seen better days and an oversized denim jacket (fancy and fluff lined) to finish it off.

Dressed and ready for a supposed outing, (with his hair tamed) Shuichi's mind pondered over if he would be able to hang out with a friend or two soon.

Most probably had a busy day, it _was_ a Tuesday after all. He went through the list of people he wouldn't get anxious over calling. _'Kokichi has a class at the moment, Kaede is working, Kaito is- oh!_ ' he thought. Wouldn't Kaito be free some time today? He could only see by messaging him, in that case.

Saihara picked up his phone to quickly text Momota.

➪ **hey kaito- are you free soon?**  
➪ **if you are can we hang out? sorry if im bothering you btw** 😅

He sighed calmly, now waiting for a reply. He was doing just fine where he was, doing the same things he enjoyed doing. Speaking of doing things, maybe there was a crime show on that he could watch..

Shuichi Saihara was doing quite well and all he could see was clear skies - metaphorically of course. He was in a bedroom.


	2. one / yellow flag

~~~~~

Love was not someting to take for granted and Shuichi was not gonna be one to treat it as such.

The fact that he didn't take loving and being loved for granted was the reason he was overly grateful to the people who appreciate him and care for him. And very, extremely grateful to them; it shocked him really. Over the last 7 months he's been dating Kokichi, he made sure to do everything he could to show Kokichi how much he loved and cherished him.

After all, that was what he was supposed to do when in a relationship, hm? Treasure one another as much and for as long as you can. He made sure to do that and was just about Kokichi was doing the same. He didn't quite know what he was thinking at all times, but he did enough to deduce that he cared about him. Why else would he have been asked out?

He had been asked out.

Shuichi found it mind-blowing that one question from someone that he liked could make him feel so happy. After saying yes, all he had ever felt since then was virtually endless amounts of contentment and bliss. It was too good (and true).

And though he was quite happy, there was a small problem. Not really even a problem, just something that inconvenienced him a little.

His friends weren't keen on Kokichi.

Kaede, Kaito and Maki were really glad that Shuichi was dating someone and happy with them. They weren't too glad about Kokichi though. Well, they didn't hate him; they didn't know him enough to have a reason to. It was merely how Kokichi acted at times, that was why they collectively disapproved of Ouma.

The three never actually did anything to separate Saihara and Ouma, that was too cruel obviously. As a unit, they cared a lot about each other so, whenever Shuichi tells the group about something slightly concerning Kokichi has done, they have a bit more negative things to say about him.

Shuichi didn't really understand why they didn't like him, the things Ouma did seemed quite trivial, in his opinion. He listened to what they said though; since they pestered him about it quite a bit.

Even at the moment.

It was almost 5 pm on Wednesday; the excruciatingly dull part of his week. Saihara was sitting in his dorm at his desk, having arrived back from a boring, long, tiring day, aching to finish his assignment then rest. He had seriously hand cramps from all the writing (and typing) he's had to do today, and he had no plans to stay up late studying.

Though Shuichi really needed a break, he didn't have an excuse to take one so far. Until he opened his phone to see a handful of notifications from his best friends group chat. Sighing in relief, he picked up his phone and flopped onto his bed, beginning to read back the chat log.

..

After a few minutes of scrolling and skimming Shuichi was caught up with whatever his friends happened to be talking about and of course it had to be them thinking of ways to watch out for Kokichi and ways to bring him misery if he every hurt Shuichi. It was basically them bad-mouthing Kokichi in the nicest, most creative ways, with protective intentions.

—

**Space Boy : That Guy Is Seriously Weird. I Get A Really Bad Feeling From Him And When Have I Ever Been Wrong?**

**Piano girl : Well.. more than once.**  
**I agree though, he's not too bad but if Shuichi gets hurt, I might get really mad.**

**just maki : i seriously hope that his chargers and headphones all break.**

**_the_ ** **detective : uhm guys**  
**aren't you being a bit harsh?**

**just maki : not harsh, just honest.**

**Space Boy : We Don't Want Him To Hurt You!**

**Piano girl : Exactly! It's precautionary!**  
**I just happen to have known u the longest and I remember that time you lost your fave book and cried for the whole day**

**Space Boy : You Can Get Really Emotional Shuichi**

**just maki : lord knows what will happen if the short one breaks your trust**

**_the_ ** **detective : hey hey, i swear he's not horrible like you think!**  
**if you guys are still worried after over half a year then i'll keep track**  
**something like that**

**Piano girl : Yes! Do that! Use your own judgement and detective skills to figure whatever he's hiding**

**Space Boy : It's Probably Not To Deep**  
**Ouma Is Suspicious In A Weirdly Unsuspicious Way**

**_the_ ** **detective: doesn't that just mean you're suspecting him for no reason?**

**Piano girl : Hush**

**just maki : keep an eye put and trust nobody**  
**a good liar can hide anything**

**_the_ ** **detective : okay then i'll listen to you guys' secret dubious kokichi talk**

**Space Boy : That's Great!**

**_the_ ** **detective: for now**

**Piano girl : Oh**

**just maki : knew it.**

**_the_ ** **detective : im telling you not to worry he not like the other terrible guys**

**Piano girl: Here we go again-**

**—**

Shuichi let out a small chuckle with a cheesy grin on his face. Gosh, he had dramatic friends. But in reality, there wasn't enough to worry about with Kokichi; from what a few months dating knowledge could get you, he really was just flirty, sweetheart. Both of those statements entirely true.

Very much true.. It wasn't in a bad way of course, just in an overly good (?) sense. He was playful; not to only Shuichi though.

Maybe it had happened a few times, he couldn't remember: they were just too insignificant to remember! Except for one occurrence. It was a few weeks ago; maybe. Having a vague memory of time did not come in handy (perhaps it was a good idea to start writing negative actions and times down).

They were at a park nearby to the school's dorm buildings when Ouma had happened to run into one of his friends from a course that he was taking that semester. His name was Nagito Komaeda and studied in the economics and literature departments at Hope's Peak. As per usual, Kokichi seemed to chatter away with Komaeda who was definitely less social compared to Kokichi.

Something that was a bit (more than a bit) odd was Kokichi being awfully touchy for no reason at all. The two didn't even seem very close, just classmates at best. But Ouma didn't seem to have a sense of personal space, up until Komaeda asked tor some space and left a little bit after and to which Kokichi acted conflicted and grumpy about.

That was a weird day.

\----

Saihara glanced at the time, **[12:57]** he had time to get there; it was 30 minutes until he had a math class (very boring). He was at the Cafeteria grounds already so all he had to do was find the target. The forgetful target.

It was the next day and Shuichi was obviously on his college campus on lunch break about to go do an act of kindness, if thats's what you would call it. It was generally nothing; a small surprise at best.

Kokichi had somehow forgotten his own lunch and didn't have any money on his school account. Even on top of that, his day was rather busy so there wouldn't be time to go off campus to get something from a nearby shop. In short, Kokichi was just about going hungry.

How could he be so unprepared?

Anyways, Shuichi decided to try to have the courtesy of a (minorly) thoughtful partner and be the knight! In his more ordinary case, delivery man. He was just going to bring Ouma a decent lunch from a nearby shop; egg sandwiches and soda. It didn't sound all that appeasing together. The gesture was what the least he could do as he had a day with more breaks inbetween classes, and there was no harm in eating lunch with his boyfriend, right?

Being on the vast lunch grounds, Kokichi could be virtually anywhere. He could call him, but that would ruin the point of an initial surprise after all. So basically, he needed to look around. Shuichi probably looked stupid, maybe a bit lost or mental, awkwardly searching for Ouma.

He did sport a wildly-styled, purple head of hair, that seems quite easy to recognize amongst blacks, browns, blondes and the occasional dyed hair. Though he could stand out like a sore thumb, the latter was quite short for a male in college: 5'1" at that. It would be expected to miss him when amongst the taller masses of students, when looking at a glance.

But Shuichi was focused.

It took him a good few minutes of oddly looking out for 'the short, purple-haired person he was dating'. It sounded shockingly cartoon like saying it out loud and vague. When he did spot Kokichi, he seemed to be simply standing around some benches nearer to the school's lunch entrance but also talking to someone.

Whoever it was, Shuichi headed towards the two nonetheless.

The person came off with a masculine appearance (but who knows), with green, curly hair, quite a bit taller than Kokichi and seemingly taller than himself too.

Getting nearer to the pair, Shuichi noticed that the person had quite a few piercings and dressed in grey ripped jeans, and a navy (?) top with lots of accessories. Way more than the average person would wear with one outfit.

They didn't exactly have their backs turned to Shuichi but it would help to call out to them. Not yet though. He felt a bit nervous and in an awkward place to do so.

Yes, not knowing the taller person, anxiety, general social awkwardness and being at school was part of the weird feeling but it there was still something out of the blue - kinda.

The two were chattering away as friends would but Kokichi's actions were.. somewhat questionable at best. He was acting flattered, playing with his hair (what?), seemingly blushing and he looked like a highschool girl with a crush.

Shuichi definitely didn't like the look of it. He didn't want to accuse though.

The crime major was close enough to his partner but didn't want to interrupt his conversation (if thats what you'd call it) or startle him. So he called out, "Kokichi?" once or twice 'til he turned his head to face Saihara.

"Hey."

Both accessory person and Ouma looked shocked to see Shuichi; Accessory Person most likely wonder why they were on first name basis. Kokichi's reason ambiguous, his face soon switched to a soft smile.

"Hey Shumai! What're you doing here so suddenly?" Ouma asked cheerily.

Shuichi held up the bag containing two sandwiches and bottles of grape soda, "You said you forgot your lunch so I figured I'd bring you some and we could eat together." Now rubbing his neck and glancing at accessory person and said, "Sorry, who..?"

"I'm Rantaro Amami, sorry for the surprise and nice to meet you. Me and Kokichi share the same economics class if you were wondering," with a chill expression and calm smile on their face, Amami waved at Shuichi. They didn't seem too overwhelming so Shuichi wasn't _as_ intimidated as before.

"I'm Shuichi Saihara, nice to meet you too," he said awkwardly. He had context and was now introduced to Amami; should he say that they were dating? They probably already knew. Kokichi talks a lot. On the other hand, if they did know they probably would act all chummy like that with Kokichi. Though they didn't seem like one, maybe they were just an ass. Eh, he would just mention it subtly.

Looking back to Kokichi and pointing softly at the food bag Shuichi questioned, "Wanna come and eat with me then?"

Kokichi glanced between the two people above him and nodded happily at Shuichi, "Sure!" he then looked to Amami giving him a small smile then a brief wave. "See you whenever, Amami-kun!" Kun?

Kokichi pointed to a nearby table casually walking towards it while Shuichi trailed close behind him. Deciding to be upfront with Kokichi and not beat around the bush he simply began to speak his mind.

"Y'know your and, Amami, seemed really close and I don't think you've ever said anything about him before. And don't get me wrong, you don't need to tell me everything about your friends and how you act with them but um, can you not joke around with others in the sense it seems, kinda uh, flirty?" he rambled questioningly.

With a sixth sense of sorts, he could feel the air around Kokichi change moods in a silent response.

"Goodness, can't you take a joke?" Kokichi said quietly with undertones of his sudden bad mood.

 _'Here we go,'_ Shuichi thought. "It's not that I can't take a joke it's just that-"

"You're so damn uptight sometimes!" Kokichi cut him off. "Couldn't you see I was just messing with them?" The latter had stopped in his tracks now facing Shuichi with a blankly upset expression on his face.

"It's not fair!" Ouma exclaimed. "You get to do whatever you want with your friends but when I'm having fun with mine you get all mad!"

They were in the school's outer eating area and Kokichi was mad for just about no reason; amazing.

"Kokichi, I promis I didn't-"

"We're dating anyways! Is there a need for you to care? You have me all you like now, don't you?!" severing his speech one more, Kokichi was beginning to shout. "Just because we're together doesn't mean you get to keep me _all_ to yourself! Stop being so attached to me!"

"You're selfish and never let me do anything with anyone else!"

Yeah, he'd had enough. "Kokichi why are you getting so mad? I just asked you a question, okay? I'm sorry!" Shuichi replied in a loud, yet nervous tone. "Can you please just calm down and come and eat? I'll stop, I promise." And the purple-haired boy had gotten his way.

Ouma switched to a smile and soft, cheery mood in about .2 seconds, now happy with the fact he'd gotten the other boy to apologize. "Thank you, Shumai! I didn't want to stay mad at you!" Kokichi said, now back to his lively self.

 _'Intense mood swings?'_ Shuichi thought, extremely confused. How could one get so mad then un-mad in such a short time? Questionable.

At a bench only a few steps away, Saihara and Ouma sat down to eat peacefully, somehow as if the minor argument had never even happened.

Saihara takes mental note of the prior occurance; godness that was too embarrassing. All that fuss over something normal that of people asked in relationships! He was completely allowed to get jealous if Kokichi was _supposedly_ flirting with someone! They _were_ dating after all! He wasn't selfish...

What just happened was alarming. Quite alarming; to Shuichi at least. Maybe even the masses of students whose lunch was interrupted by Kokichi's little tantrum. They all saw it. Just great.

As the real embarrassment flooded Shuichi, thoughts of the small happening plagued his mind. Why on earth did he get so heated over something minor like a question? It was stupid. Way too stupid not to pay attention to.

He would definitely write it down somewhere to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so yeah that was the chapter! small tiny oumami moment as apology but kokichi is still an asshole while shuichi try to be the best partner. rantaro is not to blame, koochie lied :| i picked nagito because uh i had antag shart face ig (no ship lol)
> 
> and yes i was avoiding using the term b*yfriend for saiouma im just that petty

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the basic daily routine, unnecessary character descriptons and saiouma but it'll get better i swear. i didn't quite know what to start with, so i apologise if half of this made about 0 sense. the end might come off as rushed but don't mind that. this is entirely pre-planned but updates will be a bit slow :[
> 
> anyways comments and constructive criticism is definitely appreciated,,, thank youuu!


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